<p>Some colleges pay for the cost of visiting, after you are admitted. For example, I grew up in the northeast. Stanford was thousands of miles away, making it impractical to drive, so they sent me plane tickets to visit the college after being admitted. While visiting, I lived in a residence with a student and ate meals in the residence dining hall, so there was also no hotel or food costs. I was also allowed to attend Stanford classes, parties, workout in the gym, etc. It allowed me to gain a far better experience of the school than I would have had by going on a group tour and/or wandering blindly around the campus.</p>